Whaddya reckon it would cost to do this place up?

[CrystalDeCanter]

So . . . I'm looking at houses for my parents to move into. They are selling a house they've been in for donkeys years, they want something a bit more manageable with a nice garden.

I've seen this place in Cheltenham

It looks ok to me apart from it being dated. Supposing it's structurally sound whaddya reckone they should budget for new kitchen/carpets/decorating.

They'd have to pay someone to do it and I guess a cheapish kitchen/bathroom would be what they are after so no 50,000 luxe fittings. But a general ball park figure . . . ?

[Sidge]

Does the bathroom need doing? Who would be doing the work - friends and family or professionals?

I'd guess the plumbing and electrics might need some updating and improving - older houses needing modernisation often have minimal sockets, inefficient boilers. It says there is GCH but it might be terrible!

You could do it for £10k I guess but it would be easy to spend £30k if it needed rewiring and a new boiler/heating sytem etc.

[CrystalDeCanter]

Yes to new bathroom too Sidge. They would have to have pro's doing the work. Hadn't thought about plumbing and electrics. If they had 50K do you think you could get new bathroom/kitchen/carpets/decor done?

[Madmog]

Putting aside the cost of renovation, is the guide price correct? If this is the one for them great, but if they have money to purchase at that price and then renovate, there will be a massive choice for them in and around Cheltenham.

Hatherley is a sought after area, but not sure a 3 bed semi is worth £375,000, more likely £275,000. Council tax band D seems to support what I'm saying, as my Mum has a property worth about £300,000 in Cheltenham and that's Council Band E.

[LondonGirl83]

If it needs re-plumbing and rewiring (which it almost certainly does judging by the link) you need to budget at least 5k for that plus the costs of redecorating if you can't do it yourself.

Getting professionals to replaster and repaint the house would be another few thousand as a minimum.
You can get an IKEA kitchen for 5
A new bathroom with new tiles fully installed could be done for 3k (this could be less if you can do work yourself, limit the tiling etc or a lot more if you move around the location of the plumbing, get very nice stuff)

New carpet throughout would be a minimum of few thousand.
In total, I would say 20k is your absolute minimum spend assuming there is no damp / timber rot, the windows dont need replacing, the roof is fine, and there are no structural issues.

[mandy214]

The house is not too different from ours.

I would agree that plumbing and electrics might be 5k.
I'd say perhaps 400 per room, plus hall / stairs & landing, for replastering (3 bedrooms, 3 rooms downstairs) so 2800. Decorating on top of that, you're probably looking at 5k in total (including plastering).
I think you could probably do kitchen for 5k with maybe 1.5k for installation. 5k for both bathrooms.
I think you could easily carpet / put flooring down (provided they don't have solid wood) for about 3k including fitting if they shop around.
I agree with LondonGirl that you'd probably need 20k if you're having to have tradesman do the work.

[BuggedByJake]

Blimey, it seems very overpriced.
It's a small kitchen so maybe 10,000 if they don't want anything too flash. Then about 4,000 for a bathroom.
Nice Ercol furniture in there! Maybe they'll leave that & you could make a bit of money!

[Mrsladybirdface]

That's one of the most exclusive roads in Cheltenham. It's a beautiful road....it will sell for 350ish.

can't really help with pricing but I know a good gas engineer

[Mrsladybirdface]

next door sold for 377k...I think it was slightly better inside

[CrystalDeCanter]

Yep, it is a nice road. And right near a good school and park so lots of interest from families.

It would be great if they could get it and do it up for and additional 20-30K . . . they'd have a bit of excess from the sale of their old place.

Dad would have done it all himself some years ago but is too old now. My brother might help by installing the kitchen/doing tiling etc but he's in London so not totally useful. I would help decorate but live too far away (overseas).

[Isabeller]

At least double that. Possibly more

[CrystalDeCanter]

The problem we are having in looking for a place for them is they have a wishlist of . . .

a. nice garden (don't currently have much of one and mum likes to potter)
b. 3 bedrooms
c. off street parking/garage (so most of the Victorian housing stock is a no go)
d. preferably one story but can manage one flight of stairs - definately not 3 or 4 stories - so lots of lovely Regency houses are a no go.
e. want to stay fairly central, so rather not Charlton Kings/Leckhampton but they would move here for the right house.
f. don't want to have to do too much work.

Obviously they may need to compromise on some of these issues. But this will probably be their last move as they are now in their 70s.

It's irritating as I'd love them to be near me - there is heaps of suitable single story housing stock here (Australia) but they are stubborn buggers and are rather insistent on staying in Blighty.

[ouryve]

Almost definitely will need electrics and may still have lead plumbing. Need to check for damp, too. Probably anything from £10K for a B&Q special with lots of DIY to £30K if more complications and less DIY.

[Beaverfeaver2]

The kitchen is so very retro its cool.
Looks like it's been looked after too

[Mrsladybirdface]

I didn't read the bit about it being for your parents. ..personally I'd say they need to be closer(as in a short walk) to amenities. It may only be a few years before they can't drive....would they not consider a bungalow too? Are they Cheltenham based already?

[Mrsladybirdface]

I need to learn to read! They would prefer one level. Shame I have a 3 bed bungalow that fits all their criteria

[CrystalDeCanter]

Really MrsLady??? Where? Got a link?

I saw an ok ish bungalow in St Marks. Yes they are already in Cheltenham. V central in an apartment.

[CuthbertDibble]

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-42300139.html

What about this one?

[Mrsladybirdface]

oh we're not selling yet, in a few years time. I want to enjoy my new kitchen first. We're local to bourneside road.

3 bed bungalows are pretty rare.

The one in St Marks is lovely and that road is nice but personally I think it's still a tad too far out. Somewhere near the Bath Road would be best....or maybe I'm trying to live through your parents

[Mrsladybirdface]

Cuthbert, that one's a great location but it has a river/stream running right next to it. I'm not sure it's ever flooded but that stream gets scarily high .

[EnlightenedOwl]

It will almost certainly want re-wiring. Poss new boiler/central heating system...then bathroom, kitchen...replastering/painting throughout...good fun! Of course may be structural issues too such as roofing, guttering so on. I would be interested to know if asbestos has been used in the garage construction as well - distinct possibility.

[Beemer30]

I'm am from Cheltenham. Bournside Road is a sought after address. The house from the 70s/80s show Butterflies was filmed in that road.

I think you could spend £50k on that house.

[CrystalDeCanter]

Thanks Beemer (and everyone). Was Butterflies REALLY filmed on that road??? How fabulous. I knew Ria and Leonard met in Hatherley Park. I used to have a crush on one of the sons - the curly haired one not Nicholas Lyndhurst.

Right, mum and dad HAVE to buy it.

[Beemer30]

Yes, the house is situated on a bit of a bend in the road and is still identifiable. Look on google street view. I drove down there last weekend actually after taking DDs to Hatherley Park.

Yeah I had a crush on "Russell" in Butterflies to!

[Beemer30]

There it is

[CrystalDeCanter]

Ooh, what a lovely house.

This is Russell now . . . apparently he's in Corrie.